Launch food-for-work scheme to use surplus foodgrains: Kisan Sabha tells Centre

The government, saddled with huge surplus stocks of grains, should launch a food-for-work programme to take grains to the needy rather than allowing them to rot in godowns, the All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) said in a statement on Wednesday.

On June 1, the Food Corporation of India (FCI) had 10.4 crore tonnes of foodgrains. Never before has the government stored such a large quantity of foodgrains. This is 8.33 crore tonnes in excess of what the government needs for operational and emergency requirements, AIKS, the CPI(M)-backed farmer organisation, said.

The unwillingness of the BJP government to use the grain for public distribution is the primary cause of this build-up of stocks, the farmer organisation alleged. Such a huge build-up of foodgrains adversely affects farmers as it works to depress prices in the open market, where a vast majority of farmers has to sell their crops in the absence of public procurement facilities. Along with this, the FCI has been forced to incur a large amount of expenditure on maintaining the grains, further raising the economic cost of the grains.

“It is criminal to hoard such a large quantity of grains during a crisis such as the present, when hunger and food insecurity affect a vast majority of people in India. It is utter callousness that instead of opening its granaries for feeding the hungry, the BJP-led Central government is hoarding grain and depriving people of food,” it said.

“This grain belongs to the people and the surplus must be distributed free of cost to all needy and the government should run (a) food-for-work programme with it to create employment,” AIKS said.

It also demanded immediate extension of the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana for the entire year, universalisation of the provision of subsidised grains and use of foodstocks to massively expand employment opportunities through the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme.

A letter from the Editor

Dear Readers,

The coronavirus crisis has changed the world completely in the last few months. All of us have been locked into our homes, economic activity has come to a near standstill.

In these difficult times, we, at BusinessLine, are trying our best to ensure the newspaper reaches your hands every day. You can also access BusinessLine in the e-paper format – just as it appears in print. Our website and apps too, are updated every minute.

But all this comes at a heavy cost. As you are aware, the lockdowns have wiped out almost all our entire revenue stream. That we have managed so far is thanks to your support. I thank all our subscribers – print and digital – for your support.

I appeal to all our readers to help us navigate these challenging times and help sustain one of the truly independent and credible voices in the world of Indian journalism. You can help us by subscribing to our digital or e-paper editions. We offer several affordable subscription plans for our website, which includes Portfolio, our investment advisory section.

Our subscriptions start as low as Rs 199/- per month. A yearly package costs just Rs. 999 – a mere Rs 2.75 per day, less than a third the price of a cup of roadside chai..

A little help from you can make a huge difference to the cause of quality journalism!

Support Quality Journalism